


Running It By You

by astralpenguin



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: Established Newt/Thomas, F/M, First Kiss, Friendship, M/M, Minho Will Never Live It Down, Misunderstandings, Newt (Maze Runner) Lives, Post-Canon, Safe Haven, almond oil, but minho doesn't know that, yes i'm tagging that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-22 23:25:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14319360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralpenguin/pseuds/astralpenguin
Summary: Now that Minho had finally gotten a chance to breathe, and could actually talk to this girl, and spend time with her, he’d found that he reallydidlike her.But Thomas clearly liked Brenda too, and Minho didn’t want to hurt his friend like that.





	Running It By You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tasteofdreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tasteofdreams/gifts).



> this was born from a prompt given by dreams on the tmr discord, which i loved so much that i just _had_ to write it
> 
> thanks to faia for the title : D
> 
> happy birthday dreams!!!

Minho had a problem.

Actually, he had more than one.

The first was Thomas and Newt.

They’d spent over six months without him. That time spent traversing the Scorch, trying to find _him,_ had clearly made them close.

Minho had been Newt’s best friend, once upon a time, and that night he'd spent with Thomas in the Maze had formed a bond between the two of them that couldn’t ever be broken. He loved both those shanks dearly. And he completely understood how and why they’d ended up closer to each other than they currently were with him.

He wasn’t going to pretend that it didn’t sting a little, though. It wasn’t _his_ fault that WCKD took him! If he’d had his way, he’d have been right there with them all that time.

But they’d only been in the Safe Haven for about a month. _And_ those two idiots had been conscious for even _less_ time than everyone else, arriving with bullet and knife wounds, and Newt had had to recover from the flare.

So yeah, he felt a little excluded sometimes, and yeah, it sucked, but they were _here_ and _alive_ and Minho wouldn’t change that for the world.

Problem one was just a blip. One that he was confident wouldn’t last long.

But the second problem? Now _that_ had the potential to turn into a real issue.

When they’d met Brenda in the Scorch, Minho hadn’t had much opportunity to talk to her. He’d liked her. She’d been snarky, and confident, and she’d saved them from that guy who’d wanted to turn them in to WCKD.

Whatever had happened with her and Thomas in the tunnels, she’d kept him safe. She’d gotten infected for him. He was always going to be thankful that she did that.

But that was just the thing. Brenda and Thomas.

Because now that Minho had finally gotten a chance to breathe,  and could actually talk to this girl, and spend time with her? He’d found that he really _did_ like her. A lot.

A whole shucking lot.

But Thomas clearly liked Brenda too, and Minho didn’t want to hurt his friend like that. He couldn’t. Especially not after everything that he’d been through for him.

What kind of person would that make him? If he just swooped in and took Brenda, even though Thomas knew her better and had known her for longer. It wouldn’t be the worst case of betrayal their group had seen, but still. It would be bad.

Except, seeing the way she looked in the soft light of the campfire, the way her eyes lit up as she laughed at whatever story Frypan was telling, the smile that in recent days had hardly left her face...

It was quickly becoming way too much for Minho to deal with.

He had to do something. Had to say something. To someone.

If he stayed silent any longer he honestly thought that he might explode.

Thomas and Newt were sitting on a log on the other side of the fire, lost in their own little world, but they looked up when Minho approached.

“Hey, Min,” said Newt, a grin on his face. “What can we do for ya?”

Minho chuckled. “Actually, I was wondering if I could borrow Thomas for a minute?”

Thomas and Newt exchanged a look, before Thomas said, “Sure.” He squeezed Newt’s fingers and stood. “Lead the way.”

Minho walked away from the campfire, towards the beach. He wanted to be far enough away that nobody could overhear this conversation, but close enough that they could still be seen. He was well aware that if he took Thomas out of Newt’s sight for any length of time, _something_ would go wrong somehow. It always did.

“Alright then, what’s up?”

Of course, Minho hadn’t been thinking about what he was going to say. He didn’t have a plan. He just knew that he needed to tell _someone_ about how he felt about Brenda, and that it would probably be a dick move if the person he told was anyone other than Thomas, so he’d just asked to talk but had _no idea_ what to do next, and-

“Hey, you okay?” The smile had slipped from Thomas’ face, his expression instead radiating concern. “You kinda zoned out there for a second.”

“I’m good, Thomas.” Minho tried to smile reassuringly, but could tell that it didn’t quite land. “It’s just...” He trailed off.

After a few seconds of silence, Thomas said, “It’s just what? I’m all ears. What’s got you so freaked out?”

Minho took a deep breath, and said, “Thomas, you know I love you, man, and I _know_ we wouldn’t be here without you, and I owe you so much, but I have to be honest with you, and I really hope it won’t damage our friendship, but-”

“Whoa, wait.” Thomas held out his hands to punctuate what he was saying. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s just that I’ve kinda got a massive crush on Brenda, and I know you like her too, so I was wondering if you’d be okay with it if I asked her out or something?”

“Minho-”

“It’s okay if you’re not! You’ve known her longer. And, like I said, we all shucking owe you, so you definitely have the right to go after her, not me.”

“Minho, I-”

“In fact, don’t worry about it, forget I asked, I’ll back off, you can-”

“Minho!”

Minho looked up from where his gaze had focused on the ground between them to see that Thomas was...

Smiling?

Why was he smiling?

Had Minho _broken_ him?

“It’s fine that you like Brenda.” Thomas glanced upwards for a moment as he thought. “In fact, it’s great. I think you absolutely should make a move.”

“...So you’re not mad?”

Thomas’ smile grew even wider. “Why would I be?”

“Because you know her better, so you should go after her first.”

Thomas seemed to be slightly taken aback by that. “Minho,” he said, “you _do_ know that Newt and I are together, right?”

Minho sighed. He knew that Thomas could be oblivious at times, but this was really something else. He was literally spelling it all out. What exactly was so difficult for him to understand? “Yes, Thomas, I know that you and Newt are close, but that doesn’t have anything to do with Brenda! Could we focus please!”

Thomas stared at him for a few seconds, then, without warning, he burst into laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

“This is priceless, holy shit, you can’t be serious right now.” Thomas gasped for breath, his hands on his knees. “You’re killing me, you know that, right?”

“Seriously, man, if there’s a joke here, I’m not getting it.”

Thomas stood upright, his laughter mostly under control. “Minho,” he said, “Newt and I are _together._ ”

Evidently, Thomas still wasn’t getting it. “We’ve been over this. I-”

Minho froze.

Shit.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” replied Thomas, giggles still slipping through as he spoke.

“What, like you’re _together_ together?”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “ _Yes_ Minho. We have been pretty much since we got here. But it was building long before that.”

“How long?”

“Like, back-in-the-Glade long.” Thomas smiled, his eyes glazing over for a moment, clearly becoming lost in thought.

The fond look on his face wasn’t new, and Minho felt like a complete idiot for not noticing it sooner.

He cleared his throat and got Thomas’ attention back.

“I’m guessing by your reaction to all this that you and Newt being a thing isn’t a secret?”

Thomas smirked. “Not in the slightest. Everyone knows. Except you, apparently.”

“Then listen, you _can’t_ tell the others that I didn’t know, okay?”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Why not? Is it because your _crush_ would make fun of you for it?”

She would, and they both knew it. In that moment, Minho also knew that there was _no way_ he was going to get away with this.

“Hey, Newt!” Thomas called out. “Get over here!”

Oh no.

“Yeah, Tommy?” Newt stood himself next to Thomas, who put his arm around his waist.

Thomas grinned and said, “Guess what I just found out?”

Newt turned his head towards Minho. “What did you tell him?”

It would probably be easier to just say it. “I didn’t realise the two of you were together.”

Newt’s eyes widened and mouth dropped open. He looked at Thomas, then back towards Minho. “Seriously?”

Minho nodded. “Yes, seriously. I thought you shanks were just super best friends.”

Newt caught Thomas’ eye, and they both fell about laughing.

“Hey, stop it!” Minho crossed his arms. “You’re being unfair. It’s not like you ever _told_ me.”

“But Minho,” said Newt once he’d caught his breath, “how could you think that Tommy and I are just ‘best friends’? We’re not subtle!”

“Is this why you two keep going on walks with each other?”

Thomas let out another bark of laughter. “Technically, yes, but we’re very rarely actually walking.”

“It’s happened once or twice,” added Newt, “but mostly it’s just an excuse to have some time alone. An excuse that _literally nobody else buys._ ”

“How did you miss this?” asked Thomas.

Minho threw his arms into the air. “I don’t know! Looking back, it makes a lot of sense.”

All that time that he’d spent feeling hurt that they were closer with each other than they were with him seemed silly, now. Of _course_ they spent time alone together. Their relationship wasn’t platonic. He needn’t have worried that he was being excluded.

He felt his mouth curve into a smile. Newt and Thomas together _did_ make sense. He should’ve known. From the moment that Thomas came up in the Box, he should’ve known.

Thomas shared a glance with Newt. Whatever silent conversation they were having ended with them both smirking and Newt nodding, before Thomas turned to face Minho again.

“Didn’t you wonder why everyone got annoyed at _us_ when the almond oil went missing?”

Minho turned on his heels and walked towards the campfire, yelling “I didn’t need that!” back over his shoulder.

He ignored the laughter coming from behind him.

 

“Hey, does everyone remember that time that Minho didn’t realise that Newt and Thomas were a thing?”

Minho sent a glare across the campfire circle. “Slim it, Gally.”

“No, Gally, I don’t remember. Tell me more?” Frypan grinned as he handed Minho a plate of food.

“C’mon, it’s been a week already! Can’t you shanks just let it go?”

Newt lifted his head up from where he’d been leaning it against Thomas’ chest. “Nope! Carry on, everyone.” He turned to Thomas, gave him a quick kiss, and rested his head back against his chest.

Minho looked at Thomas, before remembering that he’d been the one to start it, and so he wasn’t going to get any help from him.

“Oh, it’s not _too_ bad.”

Minho looked up at the owner of the new voice.

Brenda sat on the log next to him and grabbed something off his plate. Minho didn’t see what. He was too busy looking at her to give a shit about his food. She could have it all if she wanted.

He swallowed. “It isn’t?”

She finished eating whatever it was she’d stolen. “Actually I think it’s sweet. You were so focused on everyone being friends that it completely slipped your mind that something else could be going on.”

Not exactly. “Sure, that’s it.”

Brenda laughed. She lowered her voice and said, “Of course, there’s also the fact that you thought that Thomas liked me. You must’ve been ever so slightly distracted by your own pining to notice him and Newt.”

Time slowed. Everyone else sitting around the fire, the rest of camp, the whole island, it all faded into the background.

Minho tried to swallow again, but couldn’t manage it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She laughed again. “I think you do,” she said, and leaned in.

In that moment, Minho knew that he’d accept being teased about his own obliviousness until the end of time, so long as Brenda would keep kissing him.

All in all, it was a fair trade.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are my lifeblood
> 
> come say [hi](http://astralpenguin.tumblr.com/)


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